Damen Shipyards Group has been awarded a contract to design a new Offshore Terminal Tug for Edison Chouest Offshore, the company said in its release. Chouest will initially build two ASD Tugs 5016 at its Louisiana shipyard. The contract builds upon the well-established partnership between the two companies. Chouest has, to date, built twelve Damen ASD Tugs 3212 and five Damen ASD Tugs 4517.
Damen has designed the 50-metre ASD Tug 5016 to provide escort, hold-back, hose-handling and maintenance duties offshore Guyana. The tug will deliver 120 tons of static Bollard Pull delivered by twin C-280 engines. It will also have a hybrid system that will be engaged when loitering. Extensive operational experience from Chouest supplied all the necessary ingredients for the design to perform optimally once in operation in Guyana.
To facilitate the hose maintenance, the vessel features as 27-metre aft deck with hose-flushing equipment and a full width sump. The tugs will also carry a workboat to assist in hose-handling operations. The ASD Tugs 5016 built by Chouest will be installed with FiFi 1 and Oil Spill response equipment. Damen has developed the ASD Tug 5016 design in close collaboration with Chouest, drawing on their extensive operational experience offshore in Guyana and input from their client.
Damen sales manager Americas Daan Dijxhoorn says, “The ASD Tug 5016 is a testimony to the successful relationship that Damen has enjoyed with Edison Chouest over the years. Characteristic of this relationship, the ASD Tug 5016 draws on proven Damen technology and applies it in a new way in order to meet the requirements of Chouest and their clients.”
Damen Shipyards Group operates 36 shipbuilding and repair yards, employing 11,000 people worldwide. Damen has delivered more than 6,500 vessels in more than 100 countries and delivers around 175 vessels annually to customers worldwide. Based on its unique, standardised ship-design concept Damen is able to guarantee consistent quality. Damen’s focus on standardisation, modular construction and keeping vessels in stock leads to short delivery times, low ‘total cost of ownership’, high resale values and reliable performance. Furthermore, Damen vessels are based on thorough R&D and proven technology. Damen offers a wide range of products, including tugs, workboats, naval and patrol vessels, high speed craft, cargo vessels, dredgers, vessels for the offshore industry, ferries, pontoons and superyachts. For nearly all vessel types Damen offers a broad range of services, including maintenance, spare parts delivery, training and the transfer of (shipbuilding) know-how. Damen also offers a variety of marine components, such as nozzles, rudders, winches, anchors, anchor chains and steel works. Damen Shiprepair & Conversion (DSC) has a worldwide network of eighteen repair and conversion yards of which twelve are located in North West Europe. Facilities at the yards include more than 50 floating (and covered) drydocks, including the longest, 420 x 80 metres, and the widest, 405 x 90 metres, as well as slopes, ship lifts and indoor halls. Projects range from the smallest simple repairs through Class’ maintenance to complex refits and the complete conversion of large offshore structures. DSC completes around 1,300 repair and maintenance jobs annually, both at yards as well as in ports and during voyage.